Dark Rose: Blooming Thorns
by Molvefman24
Summary: /This a republished and updated version of the original Dark Rose./ Follow Jett Oswind, street urchin turned Hunter-in-Training, and his team as they encounter powerful enemies and allies. Watch as they grow from dysfunctional group, to tight-knit team.


**Dark Rose**

 **Chapter 1: Beginnings**

Beacon Academy. Man, he never expected to find himself here. It took a lot of effort to get here, but it was all worth it. A single, peculiar, young man stood in the center of the courtyard. Dressed in rather normal looking clothes: a grey hoodie, with a green t-shirt poking out from underneath. Black jeans hung off his waist, with a white and black checkered belt with a seat belt buckle held up his pants, and glinted in the sunlight. The young man ran a hand though his ruffled black hair, pulling a strand out to look at his pink highlights. Releasing the strand of hair, he fished in his pocket for his Scroll that he snatched off an unsuspecting student that passed by him.

"Aha!" he quietly exclaimed as grabbed the device from his pocket, and opened it in one motion. He tapped the screen a few times before it flashed red in warning. The young man looked closer at the screen. "Password...?" he muttered. "Hmmm..." He shot up quickly, remembering something he had gotten before he came here. Fishing in his other pocket, the young man pulled out a small, green chip, no larger than his thumbnail. He folded the Scroll, then fastened the chip to the yellow diamond for a few seconds. An audible *ding* sounded that it had done what was intended. Taking the chip off, the young man opened the phone again, and found that it was unlocked. "Thank you, Timm..." he muttered to himself, as he thought back to the store owner who helped him get here.

The young man went about wiping all information off the Scroll, but stopped abruptly when he came to the name of the person who the device belonged to. _Jaune Arc..? I wonder who that is?_ he thought to himself. He shook his head, and wiped the name off the registration, and went about adding his own to the device. "J-E-T-T O-S-W-I-N-D" the young man muttered as he typed on the keys. Having never had one of these devices, his typing skills were understandably rusty. With a *ping*, the new name registered, and he was the proud owner of a new-ish Scroll! He let the screen grow blank, and gazed at his reflection in the screen. His heterochromic eyes looking strange to him in the reflection. His pink eye reflected the light briefly as he closed the Scroll.

Jett looked up as the clock-tower dinged. _6:30pm._ Shoot! The opening ceremony is about to start! Jett sprinted for the doors of the building. "Gah! How could we be late for this?" a feminine voice exclaimed from his right. Jett turned to look, and saw a young girl with black and red hair running ahead of a blonde boy in ancient-looking body armor.

"Waiiiiiit! Hold up, Ruby!" The blonde boy whined, futily trying to keep up with the fast girl. The girl looked back at the blonde boy, and smiled in satisfaction, like a little kid winning a foot race. Jett sensed something coming from in front. He looked back forward, just in time to see an upcoming pole. "Shit!" he exclaimed, running into the obstacle and smacking his head off the metal. The red and black-haired girl looked back in concern when she heard the ding, but the clock-tower's bell rang again, signaling that they were late.

Jett wiped the dirt off his forehead, and booked it for the closing double doors.

 **...**

Jett just made it before they closed the doors on him. "Sorry." he apologized to the staff members he passed as he slipped through the opening. He gave a sheepish grin, then headed towards the crowd amassing before a stage in the center of the hall. _So many people..._ Jett thought to himself, as he pushed his way through the crowd so that he could see the stage. Finally, after finding himself in the center of the crowd, Jett looked around in the crowd to see if anyone interesting was in it. He spotted a pissed off-looking Asian girl in the front row. He looked to his left, and saw the girl from earlier with the red and black hair, standing next a blonde bombshell of a woman and sour-looking rich girl with white hair and a white dress. The black and red-haired girl started bickering with the girl in white. Jett was unfortunately too far away to hear their conversation.

"Ahem." a voice boomed from the front by hidden speakers. Jett jumped slightly, and turned back forward to see a man clad in black and green, with a head full of grey, and odd looking glasses adorning on his face. He leaned to one side, and supported that side with a unique-looking cane.

"I'll...keep this brief." the man said, speaking into the microphone. "You are all here to train and become the next generation of Hunters and Huntresses" He straightened his glasses. "Indeed, I see all of you before have an eagerness to learn." "But I also see potential. Wasted potential, in need of purpose. That is what you will find here, students. Potential, and drive to put the well being of the public above your own. Welcome to Beacon, freshmen. Glynda will tell you the next steps. Good day."

The room erupted into confused murmurs. Jett heard whispers all around.

"Who was that supposed to be?"

"Duh, that was Professor Ozpin! The headmaster of the school?"

"Ohhhhh, I was wondering who that old guy was.."

"Nora, be respectful."

"Only if you give me pancakes."

A sharp rap on the mic cut across the noise, and brought everyone's attention back to the stage. Now, Jett saw that there was a new person on the stage. A middle-height blonde, bespectacled woman, with a defining curl on her front bang. Her outfit reminded Jett a bit of a modern witch, since it consisted of black, white, and purple.

"As you all already know from the recording in the bullhead ride here, my name is Glynda Goodwitch." the woman started. _Wait, there was a recording on that ride?_ he thought. Jett shrugged. "Your initiation will start tomorrow at 8:30am, sharp. Lateness will not be tolerated from anyone." She adjusted her glasses, and continued. "Tonight, everyone will stay in the ballroom. Please, follow the teachers at the doors. They will lead you to where you will sleep. You are dismissed." With that, exit stage right for Ms. Goodwitch.

Seeing the crowd move towards the exit, Jett merged and followed the flow of people out the door. "Oww!" a feminine voice exclaimed from beside him. Jett looked over, and saw the black and red-haired girl from earlier next to him, rubbing her elbow, having apparently been shoved by a passing student. Now that she was closer, Jett could get a better look at the mystery girl.

Firstly, he didn't realize how short she was. The height difference is definitely noticeable, considering that he is 5'10" and she looks to be 5'3". She wore her hair where her hair was cut short. One of her bangs hung out, and the other was tucked behind her ear. A type of flowery dress adorned her body. It was coloured black and red, which seemed to match the rest of her colour scheme. On her waist hung a black sash with a silver rose made of metal on her left hip. On her right hip hung 3 Dust rounds fastened by loops. She also wore a red hood that extended down her back into a cape. The girl looked at Jett, and he saw that she had silver eyes! Deep silver eyes, that seemed to catch and reflect any sunlight, making them look dazzling.

The girl gave Jett a frown. Feeling the blood rush to his face, he quickly turned away, but still looked at the girl in the corner of his eye. She continued to look at him of several more seconds before turning back forward and moving with the crowd. _Great start, Jett. Creeping out the cute girl._ he thought to himself. The crowd started to move again. This time, Jett thought it'd be smart to just wait for everyone to go ahead of him, so it's not as crowded. Moving himself out of the crowd, Jett found a stone bench empty close by. Sitting down with a grunt, Jett watched the mass of students pass by on their way to the ballroom. Closing his eyes, Jett quickly dozed off, falling into a deep sleep.

 **...**

"Hey." a voice called across the void of sleep. Jett tried to respond, but his muscles wouldn't work. "Hey!" the voice called again. Once again, Jett couldn't respond. A push on the shoulder was what it took to jump start Jett's brain and execute the wake up sequence. He jumped up suddenly, and looked around warily.

"Hey, where did the sun go..?" Jett murmured.

"It's 9:30pm, mate. You've been asleep for hours now."

Jett turned to the sound of the voice, and was met with a scruffy-looking Faunus boy with antlers, wearing a yellow vest. "Damn, I didn't mean to sleep that long. Ugh..." Jett groaned, wiping the remainder of sleep from his eyes.

Now that he can see properly, there was indeed a person before him. The Faunus boy had scruffy blonde hair, and wore a yellow outdoor vest over a dark brown, long sleeve shirt. His skin was tanned, as if he grew up on beach or something. He had green tribal marks on his cheekbones, and his green eyes reflected the light from the lamps around them. Bone white antlers stuck up in a straight line vertically from his head, forking only once in the middle to make a second line of bone heading more horizontally.

"Oi." the boy said, trying to get Jett's attention. "Yeah?" He nodded. "What were you doing out here?" Jett looked over at the direction of the ballroom. "I was waiting for all the people that piled out of the auditorium to clear out before I joined them. I fell asleep waiting." Jett explained. The Faunus boy gave him a skeptical look. "I don't do well with crowds." Jett added. The boy gave a knowing smile.

"Well, let's head over to the ballroom together. M'name's Eccon, by the way. Eccon Browning." He extended a hand out. Jett smiled, and took it. "I'm Jett Oswind. Pleasure." he replied.

 **...**

"So, tell me a bit about yourself, mate." Eccon started. Jett scratched his chin. What was something that he could let slip? "Hmmm... Let's see..." "Oh! I like to read a good novel, I'm really good at video games, especially fighting games. And I love to spar." Jett said, ending it with a false smile. Eccon gave Jett a look, but turned back forwards. "I like parties, I like going out, and having fun with my friends. I like to study history. Oh, and I love to build old-world model cars." _What are we, on a date, or something?_ Jett thought to himself. He gave a fake smile to the Faunus boy once more, wishing that he could be somewhere else atbthe moment. Eccon looked up to the sky, noticing that the sky was darkening more. "We should get into the ballroom." Eccon pointed out. "Before we get ourselves in trouble on the first day of school." Jett raised a hand to the back of his head, and scratched it sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess we should. Show me the way?" he asked. "Yeah, c'mon." Jett pushed himself off the bench he was sitting on, and followed the Faunus boy towards a large building off the central courtyard.

 **...**

"So, what is your Semblance, Jett?" Eccon asked the mysterious boy. Jett suddenly froze at the question. _That's a pretty personal question to ask someone._ Jett thought, eyeing the Faunus suspiciously. "Well, I can't tell you that." Jett responded with a sigh. "Why not?" "Because that's pretty personal info. I'd lose my edge in combat if I told you that, and we had to face off against each other down the road. Ya know?" Eccon's smiled shrunk into indifference, and he nodded, looking at the ground. _Ah, he was fishing for answers. I've got my eye on you, Deer Boy._ Jett thought.

"Well, we're here." Eccon informed. The Faunus boy pushed open a big oak wood door, and revealed rows of sleeping bags lining the ground of the main floor, with a staircase on the the right leading to the second floor, which he could only assume holds more rooms with sleeping bags. Jett noticed something strange. "Why are boys and girls sleeping in the same area?" Jett asked, alarmed. Eccon looked at Jett with a grin. "Where have you been living? Under a rock? Beacon has always been co-ed housing. The dorms, even the locker rooms are all co-ed. You didn't know that?" he asked. Jett flushed red at the thought of co-ed rooms and locker rooms, but quickly hid his expression. "Y-yeah, I heard about it. But I had been trained by a retired Huntsman, so I'm a bit out of the loop with public schooling.."

In truth, Jett had never been to a school in his life, or been trained professionally in his life. He just...knew how to fight. It's hard to explain. He had to train to get to the point he's at now, but he started off with a fairly big handicap. Jett tried to remember past his 5th birthday, but all he can see is smoke. A foggy haze that clouds his memories. He can feel the flits of emotion from that time. Emotions that don't feel entirely like his. But he just draws a blank whenever he tries to remember. Why is that?

"Heads up!" a voice exclaimed. Jett snapped back to reality in time to see a dog-shaped pillow airborne, and headed for his face. _I could...No, I'm not going to use my Semblance for something like this.._ Jett thought. He acted like he just noticed the pillow. "Huh?" the boy said. The pillow hit him harmlessly. When Jett removed the pillow from his face, a red and black-haired girl ran up to him with an embarrassed look on her face. _The same girl as before..!_

"Heh, sorry about that.." The young girl apologized, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, it's no problem. Just try and be a bit more careful, okay?" Jett smiled. "O-okay. Sorry again." she said nervously. "What's your name?" Jett blurted out as the girl started to turn away. "What?" she asked, giving a confused look. "Y-your name. What's your name?" The young girl beamed at the question, putting Jett off guard for a moment.

"M'name's Ruby Rose!" she said. "Soon to be the best Huntress, ever!" She ended with a slight squeal, after which she went right back into embarrassed mode. "Sorry.." she apologized. Jett chuckled. "It's alright. You're passionate about your goals. I can respect that." The young man extended his hand out in greeting. "I'm Jett Oswind. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Rose." Jett said, giving a genuine smile. The young girl smiled wider, and took his hand, shaking it. The two parted, and Jett turned back to Eccon. As he was walking away, Jett could've sworn he heard Ruby whisper in relief: "Yes...Normal knees.."

"Let's head to bed." Eccon recommended. "I think I saw a few open sleeping bags on the second level." "Yeah, let's do that.." Jett replied only half paying attention. His attention was focused on Ruby, now talking to the white-haired girl, the blonde-haired girl, and a new black-haired girl wearing a bow. Jett looked back forward, and followed the Faunus boy up the stairs and into one of the rooms, closing the door behind them.


End file.
